Breastfeeding Woes, Part 1: Too Much Milk {Guest Post}

When I found out I was pregnant there were a few things I just knew I would do. Breastfeeding was one of them. I had taken a child development class in High School and knew breastfeeding was the better option. Of course the other reason I choose to breastfeed was because it’s free, and I didn’t want to pay money for formula if my body makes everything my baby needs.

My husband and I signed up for birth classes, but I opted out of breastfeeding classes. My thought, “How hard can it be?” Breastfeeding for me has not been particularly difficult, but I have had a couple of ups and downs.

The first difficulty I faced happened about two weeks into breastfeeding. At the time, I had no idea what was wrong.  I had no idea why, every time I fed my baby, I covered both of us in milk. I was constantly soaking our clothes and squirting my daughter. Now I know I was faced with oversupply and fast let down.

Since I had no experience breastfeeding, I was switching sides at each feeding. After some research and realizing the oversupply issue, I learned switching was not the best idea when an over production problem. I was producing a lot of foremilk so my baby was only receiving the foremilk and no hind milk.  This was the cause of my daughter’s green, loose stools, fussiness, gagging, gassiness and spitting up.

When my daughter was 3 weeks old, I decided to try a different nursing position. I started sitting having her straddle my leg facing me, this was much more upright. I also stopped switching sides and only nursed one breast per feeding.  By the end of the week, my daughter was having normal poop again, her gassiness was better, and she wasn’t gagging nearly as much during the feeding. 
The best news of all was I no longer gave my baby a breast milk bath, and I wasn’t changing shirts after every feeding. I had finally reached a point where I wouldn’t have been terrified to nurse in public – for fear of making a big mess. 

Until next time, when we discuss the latest Breast Milk Woe: Dairy problems…

Bridgette